Director, Voice & Data Networking

Walgreens•Deerfield, IL

12d

About The Position

This role exists to provide oversight and responsibility for delivery of the network connectivity services that serve Walgreens Corporation, This role is particularly vital to ensure smooth business operations and continuity. The incumbent will lead the network technology and voice operations team. The candidate will act as a subject matter expert regarding the network design in support of business objectives, while building a cohesive team championing quality, sharing appropriate information and building depth of expertise. He/she will ensure the technology Network & Voice Services organization is securely, predictably and measurably delivering resilient and scalable/elastic technology. He/she will be responsible for developing robust recovery plans to minimize disruption to business due to service or technology related outages. The leader in this role will have managed teams (internal employees as well as outsourced resources) and should have experience in managing offshore resources and will be based in the Deerfield metropolitan area.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and at least 8 years of experience in Network engineering or a similar role OR a High School Diploma/GED and at least 11 years of experience in network engineering or a similar role
At least 5 years of engineering, architecture and design of complex data, voice, and converged networks
At least 6 years of experience with voice, data, and converged connectivity services (telecom, route/switch, DNS, load balancers and firewalls, etc.) and networking aspects of cloud (connectivity, cloud exchange)
Experience with vendor and vendor contract management, including SLA review.
Experience with telecommunications management and carrier relations.
Experience working with Cloud transformations and the resultant impact on Network and Communications services
At least 5 years of experience contributing to financial decisions in the workplace.
At least 5 years of direct leadership, indirect leadership and/or cross functional team leadership.
Willing to travel up to/at least 10% of the time for business purposes (within state and out of state).
Deep knowledge of enterprise voice and data networking technologies, including: LAN/WAN architecture, routing & switching (Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, etc.) VoIP systems, SIP trunking, Unified Communications platforms (Cisco CUCM, MS Teams Voice, Avaya, etc.) Network security principles (firewalls, VPN, zero-trust, NAC) Wireless networks, SD-WAN, QoS, MPLS, and network performance optimization
Familiarity with cloud networking (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid network designs.
Understanding of telecom circuit provisioning, carrier services, and contract/vendor management.
Strong grasp of monitoring, observability, and incident-response tools (SolarWinds, Splunk, Thousand Eyes, etc.)
Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
Ability to perform in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
Collaborative mindset with strong stakeholder management skills
Customer-service orientation with a focus on reliability and uptime
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional engineering teams and develop high-performing talent.
Experience creating long-term network roadmaps, budgets, and organizational strategy.
Ability to guide architectural decision-making, enforce standards, and ensure operational excellence.
Strong project management skills, with experience delivering complex infrastructure initiatives on time and within budget.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to present technical topics to executives and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

Directs the evolution, and operational support of enterprise network, and telecom solutions.
Leads and directs operations involved in the design, engineering, implementation, support, and monitoring of network environments to meet corporate and business needs.
Oversees enterprise networking and telecommunications environments to ensure the infrastructure meets the customer requirements while adhering to established policies, procedures, and deadlines
Works closely with suppliers, and 3rd parties to ensure IT industry best practice is followed to deliver solutions efficiently and effectively
Develops and manages operational service metrics with actionable plans to improve operational efficiency, enhance service quality/SLA
Leads network major Incident Management including communication, remediation, recovery, leveraging the central command and control capabilities
Stays current with the latest technology trends with respect to network and connectivity (including cloud connectivity and cloud exchange) and proactively propose strategies to enhance application performance and business experience
May negotiate with vendors / suppliers/ contractors to procure products and services with support from procurement team and vendor/partnership management team
Develops and manages the Connectivity Services operations budget
Partners with Information Security to ensure security, audit and compliance requirements are met
Allocates available resources to meet operating objectives.
Ensures the ongoing training and development of team members.
Develops and mentors staff through on-boarding, open communication, training and development opportunities and performance management processes; builds and maintains employee morale and motivation; ensures the team is appropriately staffed with required competencies; fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Oversee the design, deployment, maintenance, and optimization of enterprise voice and data networks.
Ensure high availability, reliability, and security across all network-related services.
Direct the monitoring, troubleshooting, and resolution of network and voice-related incidents.
Establish and maintain documentation, standard operating procedures, and compliance frameworks (e.g., ISO, NIST, SOX, HIPAA — as applicable).
Manage vendor relationships, contract negotiations, and procurement for network and telecom services.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives for performance, cost efficiency, and scalability.